BLUE QUADRANT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT BLOG

Blurb-In this article we discuss the relationship between the US Dollar (NYSEARCA:UUP) and crude oil (NYSEARCA:USO), arguably the most important currency and commodity in the global economy today.
http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/4121543

In this article, we take a more detailed look at the most recent EIA productivity report released for October 2017 and assess what, if anything, the data means for US oil production and energy prices (NYSE:USO) as well as companies in the energy sector (NYSE:XLE) moving forward. Click here to read more

Corporate bond yields in the US remain near or close to historical lows (or at least since the 1950s), with the average yield on AAA rated debt trading at roughly 4%. Although we focus on US corporate yields and data in this article, the same trend is reflected across all major developed economies. Even in many emerging-market economies, despite the correction in late 2015 / early 2016, general corporate yields still remain well below the levels that prevailed prior to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008.

One of the conundrums of the current economic expansion in the United States has been the tepid wage growth evident in the recovery thus far. Although wage growth has picked up somewhat over the past year, it remains in a band between 2.5% and 3% and below the levels of wage growth seen prior to the last recession in 2007. This conundrum is all the more perplexing, given that the official unemployment rate has continued to decline to a new cycle low of 4.4%.

The South African Rand (ZAR) is one of the most liquid emerging market currencies in the world, but is arguably also extremely volatile, particularly in recent years. This volatility is underpinned by the sentiment-driven ebb and flow of international capital flows and tends to make forecasting the currency a notorious challenge. As such, some investors may even suggest that it is impossible or hopeless task to try and forecast the currency